The Past
by Dazzy Dizzie
Summary: Alice and the Role Holders get thrown into a world just as strange and odd as their own Wonderland. /REWRITTEN/
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER I.**

SUCH QUEER THINGS.

.

_Humans are bound to make mistakes.  
It's in their nature.  
Yet, they wish to go back in time and change the course of events.  
Life is not like that.  
The chronological order of any individual's existence shall be:  
one is born; one lives and moves forward; and finally, one dies.  
It's a beautiful thing, is it not?_

_._

_._

Strange events and people occupy the wonderful mirror world of Wonderland, a mysterious place that many come to the conclusion of being a dream. To some, it is where one's dreams go to. To another, it can be a paradise, a home away from home; it is their escape from the hardships of reality. To others, however, it is a dark world filled with nightmares; it is a place where happy smiles hide dark secrets. To those who are haunted, it is only an illusion, a place where their subconscious has taken them so they can punish themselves from their dark deeds, and hopefully, get rid of their guilt.

Many wondrous and curious things happen to mysterious world of Wonderland, so not many things surprise the world's residents. The change of events had happened fast enough in an unsuspecting manner that even those who had witnessed or heard many strange things were shocked to the core.

After all, it is not every day that the queer land's role holders and beloved foreigner disappear, and with them gone all at once, the game had paused, and for the first time in decades, so had Wonderland's complex time.

.

Alice Liddell blinked away the sleepiness from her eyes as the sun's unforgiving bright light threatened to somewhat temporarily blind the young female. Sitting up with a slight slouch to the girl's otherwise straight posture, Alice rubbed her right eye with the side of her curled fist.

She was still sleepy.

It had been a while since the young maiden has had a wonderful, relaxing nap. Between helping her friends in any way she can, Alice's body would often collapse and her conscious mind would fall asleep the second she was near her bed. However, because of the time lapse in Wonderland, her sleeping patterns would easily become irregular and she would often find herself falling asleep in the most peculiar places, and when she would wake up, her neck would be stiff from staying at an uncomfortable position for too long, and her muscles would ache in protest whenever she tried to move them.

Still, the young girl did not mind and she did her best to not complain about it, otherwise her friends would tell her to take a break and rest. She knew that if they were to do that, she would not be able to put up much of a fight because they were very persistent, and at the end, she would take their suggestion because she knew that they were right. That bothered her. She felt like a free loader whenever she stayed at her friend's domain to sleep and eat, so as to repay them, she will offer her services to them. At least that way, she will not be leeching off of them and will justified about being able to stay at their home, sleep on a bed, and eat the food that they will provide for her.

It was the right thing to do after all.

The girl opened her mouth widely to let a yawn escape as she stretched her limbs. Blinking a few times before widening her eyes in an attempt to wake herself up, Alice observed her surroundings before frowning.

She was in a large room with many doors lined along the walls, and there was a glass table that stood on three legs nearby. Alice's eyes furrowed when her hand had touched some sort of liquid. Looking over at her now wet hand, Alice noticed a puddle of what seemed to be water nearby. Surveying more of her surroundings, Alice decided to take note of all of the many puddles of various sizes dotted randomly around the room's floor. As confused as Alice was as to why she was in the room or even how she got there and why it looked as though it had rained inside the room, the poor girl decided that it did not matter as much because there was a mop that stood upright on its own, moving around and about as its hairs sucked in the puddle's liquid, leaving the place where it was wet before now clean and dry.

_How odd_, the maiden thought. _I suppose I should figure out why I am here, or rather _how_ I got here. If I remember correctly, I was running an errand for Julius and Gray. I was at the forest then, but now - how in the world did I come to this place? I don't ever recall falling asleep either._ Alice looked over at the many doors. _Perhaps if I try and pry one of them open, I can return to a place where I am more familiar with._

Standing up, Alice dusted off her dress. The mop, which had made its way towards the girl, stopped in front of her before it swept around her.

_What a smart mop . . ._

Alice shook her head. Now wasn't the time to become distracted and go in awe at the things this strange world can do. Alice walked over to the door closest to her and tried to open it. It was locked. Sighing, Alice tried the door next to it. There was no such luck with that door either. The girl continued to try and open every door in the room, but to no avail.

"They're all locked."

Looking over at the glass table, Alice noticed that there was a key sitting atop on it.

_Why hadn't I looked over there first?_

Taking the key, Alice made her way around the room again to try and unlock the doors. The key did not fit most of the keyholes, and the ones it did fit on, it apparently didn't have the correct pattern on it to unlock the door. It wasn't until the second time around that Alice had noticed a small door which she had missed the first two times she walked around the room.

Alice felt her heart thud against her chest bone as a sense of déjà vu filled her. Along with the feeling came a headache, and the young girl staggered backwards as she placed a hand on her temple.

Sighing deeply, Alice placed the key inside the door's keyhole. The corner of her lips tilted upwards when she heard a click. Twisting the key to the side, the door unlocked, and wrapping her long, thin fingers on the golden door knob, Alice twisted the knob, and opened the door.

A gasp escaped the girl's lips as she saw a beautiful garden.

"Oh my," she said, impressed at the sight before her.

Unfortunately, the female could not fit through the small door. She would be lucky if she even managed to get her head through. If the door was a bit wider, she would be able to squeeze her shoulders and arms through the small hole, and the rest of her body would easily follow suit. That was the case here, and Alice knew that she had to do something; otherwise she would be stuck inside the room longer than she would like.

Returning to the table to see if there were any other objects on it. Alice was somewhat relieved to see a glass bottle with a note attached to it that said the words _Drink Me_. She suppose that she should be suspicious of such a shady looking thing, after all, it might as well be poison, but considering that the bottle only held a small amount of liquid - and thankfully, the liquid looked a lot like water - she guessed that it would have to do for now.

"Now if I assume that this is the same type of thing as the liquid that Peter had forced me to drink . . . Then I suppose that nothing magnificent will happen. However, if it is not the same, then something should happen. Oh, I just hope that nothing bad will come out of this."

With a deep sigh, Alice took out the bottle's stopper, placed the mouth of the bottle on top of her bottom lip, and tilted it upwards, letting the warm liquid enter her mouth and drain itself down her throat. Unlike the liquid Peter had her drink to play the game, which had tasted vile, the liquid in this bottle – which was certainly not water – tasted wonderfully pleasant. Even though there was only a small amount that had entered mouth, and even though it had quickly gone down into her body, tasty flavors soon burst onto her taste buds. Alice was quite happy about the quick decision she had made.

A strange feeling washed past her as Alice noticed that she was beginning to shrink. "This is much like the potion Pierce offers me to allow my body to shrink!" Alice gasped. "But why does it taste different, and why do I feel different?"

Alice's questions were soon forgotten as she continued to shrink, watching her surroundings grow bigger and taller. She suddenly felt intimidated, and much like the first time she had tried Pierce's potion, she panicked as she continued to grow smaller and smaller. When she finally stopped, she released a sigh of relief - she hadn't even noticed that she was holding her breath in anticipation.

Looking back at the door, Alice happily made her way towards it and walked past the door. She was glad that she had decided to open the door first, otherwise there might have been complications if she hadn't, considering the fact that she had forgotten that the key was on top of the table, which was now too big and extremely tricky for the girl to climb.

The door had shut close behind the girl as soon as she walked past it. Startled, Alice jumped and spun around to see that it had locked itself. Looking through the gaping keyhole, Alice could only see darkness. Sighing, she twirled around. Once again, her eyes were met with the sight of the magnificent garden and its glorious fountain and bright flower beds.

Walking past the tall grass, Alice walked to the flower bed before stopping in front of a Tiger-lily. Much to her surprise, the flower's leaves – which were curled – uncurled and stood straight as it pointed towards the sky, as if it were stretching.

"Oh little one, did you come here to keep us bored li'l flowers company?" asked the Tiger-lily.

The Rose - which stood near the Tiger-lily - straightened its posture, as if interested by this. "I sure hope so - some entertainment is surely what we need after those other flowers passed by."

"Now, now, Rose," said the Tiger-lily, "you mustn't be such a thorn."

"A thorn," echoed the Rose as it turned its head upwards at the side indignantly. "All I'm saying is that we shouldn't be visited by such flowers that fade easily and act rather dumbly - I apologize for my belittling of others Tiger-lily, but I would have to agree with Violet for this one."

Alice decided to ignore the Rose's comment, and it wasn't just because she didn't understand what the flower was talking about. Deciding to change the topic, Alice asked, "Who else have you been visited by?"

The Rose humphed in annoyance.

"They possess the same awkward shape as you," informed a Violet. "Although each has a character of their own, they're all still the same."

"Oh, hush you!" cried the Tiger-lily. Returning her attention to Alice, the Tiger-lily said, "Now little one, despite your paleness, you do not seem to be withering - so perhaps it is normal for your kind of flower to lose a bit of color."

Alice smiled at the flower. "Thank you for that," she said, happy that at least one of the flowers is kind enough to reassure her, even if she isn't a flower herself. "Now the others that come here, do you know when they'll be back?"

"I can tell you that the one that frequently comes will not be passing by anytime soon," said the Rose.

"As for the others, dumb one," interjected the Violet, "it is hard to say. We haven't seen them before, so we do not know their pattern."

The Tiger-lily sighed. "Your best bet is to either sit around and wait or go looking for them. After all, unlike us, you have the ability to travel."

"Ah, yes, I suppose so," said Alice as she thought over it. "Well, thank you for your assistance; I'll be heading off now."

"Good day now!" said the Tiger-lily.

The Violet hummed. "Perhaps she isn't so bad after all, even if she is a little stupid."

The Rose squeaked. "Yes, Violet, that may be true. She's far more amusing than you - which isn't saying much."

The Tiger-lily glared at both of them. "Hold your tongues! I dare say that you Rose - you are caught up in your own beauty that you seem to be more of a dread than you actually are!" The Tiger-lily turned and looked at the Violet. "While _you_ snore away under the leaves until you know no more than if you were a bud!"

The Violet humphed. "Second time Tiger-lily," said the flower in a bitter tone, "that is the second time you have told me that."

.

Alice made her way out of the garden, and as she looked around, she noticed that she had some time ago grown back to her original height.

_Oh, thank goodness!_ Alice sighed in relief. _I was beginning to worry about what would happen if I stayed that small much longer!_

Smiling triumphantly to herself, Alice continued on walking until a woman appeared in front of her, seemingly coming out from thin air. Alice jumped and yelped in surprise, immediately throwing her hands over her mouth in both fright and embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," Alice said, now walking along with the woman.

The woman gave Alice a brief look before she pursed her lips together. "There are always lessons for new things," she said. "Don't slouch, project your voice, and for goodness sake, there is no need to be told twice! But I suppose I can make an exception for you since you - you do seem to have forgotten a few things since our last encounter. Now, don't let me tell you this another time, but don't forget to curtsy while you think."

Alice stood, looking at the woman with perplexity before snapping herself out of it. She didn't have a clue as to what she was saying, but the woman did seem to know who she is.

"Now Alice," the woman said. She stopped and turned around to face the girl - she had kept on walking when Alice was stunned. "You really must go back and visit your domain. The guests from the dinner party are upset, and not only that but you have some apparent business with one of the country queens. She's furious about something, and you might have to go to court." The woman paused and looked at Alice with a raised eyebrow. "Now why aren't you writing this down? Hurry up - before you forget! We don't have much time left in the game, you know? We'll have to reset everything again soon – but don't worry, you'll still keep your newly acclaimed status. Ta. Ta!"

The woman disappeared.

Once again, Alice was left standing by herself in bewilderment. She didn't really understand what the woman is saying, but judging on the red crown on her head, Alice guessed that she was one of Wonderland's Queens. With the woman's red getup, Alice would have thought that she was also the Queen of Hearts, but that couldn't be right, because Vivaldi's the Queen of Hearts.

_I suppose that what she was telling me is important. Court, however? I wonder what business a queen would have with me that we would have to go to court._ Looking ahead, Alice's face brightened as she dropped a fist on the palm of her hand. _I should go to the Role Holders and ask them about this. They should have a clue as to what it's about._

.

.

**AN**:

R&amp;R

DISCLAIMER: Alice in the Country of Hearts series


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER II.**

LACK OF INSIGHT.

.

.

Alice walked along a dirt path. It was in solitude, and its only companions were the trees whose arms waved with the wind. The young woman took the opportunity to think not only about her situation, but also her options, and solutions to this problem she found herself in.

Alice sighed.

It seemed as though she was easily finding herself in undesirable situations more often. Not only were they bothersome, but some events were enough to end her life if she so as much made the wrong move.

Alice felt a wave of guilt pass her. She'd be lying if she said that she _hated_ everything that has happened to her ever since she's come to Wonderland. She harbored no strong feelings of resentment against her situations, but she did feel lost most of the time. When it came to defending herself and fighting against others, she easily found herself to be the hapless type of woman, and _that_ was what she hated. She might as well be a doll, sitting pretty on the top of a shelf for display.

No, she liked Wonderland. She enjoys the company of the residents in the odd world, and she finds most of her activities in it to be quite fun, actually.

_If only there were less fighting. Games of war and territory only bring out the selfishness and greediness of human beings, and in the end, even if there is a winner, the rewards are usually not worth the time and money they have to spend in order to keep their newfound land plentiful and nourished. It's quite a distasteful choice of a game._

Alice was far lost in her thoughts that she failed to notice that the path had taken her onto a large clearing where a small gathering has occurred. Being brought out of her rambling over war through the noise the faceless were making around her, Alice looked up in surprise to see a young man on a white stretcher holding out his arm and talking in an overly dramatic voice about the monster that destroyed the house.

Turning her head to the direction of where the young man's finger pointed, Alice saw the ruins of a cottage. The phrase _burnt to the ground_ would have been an accurate way to describe the house as its walls, roof, and the flooring of what must have been a second floor were all collapsed onto the dirt ground. The wooden building materials were charred and wet with water that must have been thrown on it in order to stop the fire, which Alice guessed must have been the source of destruction.

Feeling obligated to apologize to the slightly hysterical man, Alice maneuvered her way towards the stretcher and shyly walked up the man, who let out a big sigh, and even though he was already lying down on the stretcher, made a movement that let the surrounding people know that his body had collapsed.

"Excuse me, good sir," Alice piped up, "would you kindly tell me as to what is going on here?"

Alice's words seemed to have started the man's energy once again, because he straightened up his body, and sat up from the stretcher. Looking at Alice with wide eyes, he said in a disbelieved voice, "You don't know what's _going on_?"

Alice slightly shrunk as she bit her lip and looked down. "I only arrived a few moments ago," she said in a small voice.

"That's still enough time to understand what has happened." Stated the man.

Feelings her cheeks flush hot pink, Alice stared hard at the ground. _Perhaps I shouldn't have feigned ignorance and just tell him how sorry I am right from the beginning._

"Fine, I'll tell you, since you've clearly haven't learned that seeing is knowing. The White Rabbit's house was destroyed by the monster that had snuck inside it. I tried to go in through the chimney, but it had beaten me out of there."

"It must have been one of those fire wielding creatures," a man nearby suggested.

The man sitting on the stretcher simply lifted a shoulder. "Haven't a clue what it is exactly. But it was big, its eyes were as big as the windows, it was watching me when I climbed up my ladder to the roof!"

The man's companion, a woman with animal features, gasped. "Do you think it's that horrid creature?"

"No, no," the man shook his head, "_those_ monsters only live in the island, remember? And as far as we know, they don't play with fire."

As the three people continued to discuss what type of monster had destroyed the cottage, Alice began to realize the difference between the man on the stretcher and the duo conversing with him.

Waiting for an opportunity to insert herself in their conversation, Alice asked the man if he was a role holder.

The man, with his head crooked to the head and looking slightly taken aback, said, "You really haven't learned anything useful, have you?"

Stumbling upon her words to convey what she meant, the man interrupted Alice said nodded his head in confirmation. "Bill, the Lizard. Now, if you want me to go on my ladder and climb into your chimney for you – no way! I'm done frying myself for other people's home."

Alice darted her eyes to side and laughed awkwardly. How else was she to respond to such an eccentric answer? "Don't worry, I won't." Pausing to let the information settle in her head, Alice's eyes drew close together.

_How strange. I assumed the role of the Lizard was already occupied by Gray._

Mulling over Bill's former words, Alice realized that something was off with his explanation. Alice opened her mouth to question the Lizard, only to discover that he had begun talking to another young man about what sounded to be politics. Once again finding herself to patiently wait for an opportunity to talk to Bill without rudely interrupting his conversation, Alice listened to what they were discussing about.

When they had finally taken the time to stop talking and seemed to be immersed in what each other had to say, Alice quickly snatched the chance to ask the Lizard her question, albeit feeling a bit guilty for not allowing him to ponder on what the other man had just told him.

"Doesn't the White Rabbit live in the castle with the Queen?" asked Alice.

Although the question was directed to the Lizard, both men turned to face Alice, and it was the other man that had taken the liberty into answering her question. "He is a servant to the Queen, yes, but that does not mean that he is any way obligated to staying in the same household as her. We all have the right to choose our home, even if it may lack extravagance or the lavish lifestyle one can find in the home of royalty."

"I suppose you're right," admitted Alice.

"Perhaps the young lady finds it difficult to picture the Prime Minister not being at the Queen's beck and call for every second of the time?" suggested the young man, looking at Alice with eyes that suggested he had some insight into the workings of her mind.

"Why, yes, that's precisely it," said Alice, perplexed at the man's words.

"You seem surprised," Bill piped up, "it's all in your intuition." Turning to the man, Bill began to explain about Alice's earlier words in curiousness as to what was occurring around her.

"Did she not learn about the lesson that seeing is knowing?" asked the man.

Bill shook his head in what seemed to be disappointment. "Afraid not, I had asked her the same question earlier, but she looked at me with the eyes of a person that lacks knowledge."

Pressing her lips, Alice felt her eyes narrowing at the two men. "I didn't come here to be insulted, you know."

The two men turned their head to face Alice.

"No, I did not know," said Bill, the same time the other man asked in genuine curiousness, "Then where do you usually go?"

Feeling a slight twitch of irritation, Alice felt heat rise from her neck to her cheeks. A slight growl made its way to Alice's throat, threatening to escape, but before Alice could snap at the two men, a soft voice interrupted them. "My, has the Rabbit's house been destroyed?"

Pivoting to the direction of the voice, Alice found herself staring at a pair of prominent blue eyes. It was a young woman who looked to be around Alice's age.

The man once again took the liberty of answering a question that may not have been clearly directed to anyone in particular. "That is right, Mary Ann, your master's house has been destroyed by a frightful beast. I advise you to stay away from chimneys and roof tops."

Mary Ann nodded her head in determination, taking heed of the man's words. "No need to worry about my well being, Dodo, I understand the dangers presented here."

As Alice watched the duo's exchange with slight interest, the Lizard leaned towards Alice and said in a low, almost mocking voice, "Despite her lack of lessons, Mary Ann can slightly grasp the fundamentals of the logic you failed to display."

Another twinge of irritation passed through Alice, but she decided against acting on her impulses – after all, acting on impulse is a rather un-lady like thing to do – and instead entertained the role holder. "You mean the logic that seeing is knowing?" Alice felt the need to defend her intelligence, and tell the man that she did, in fact, figure out what had happened, but Alice had an inkling feeling that she knew how he was going to respond.

_"If you knew, then why didn't you act upon it?" He'll probably tell me that I'm acting irrational, too. The logic in this world can be too much to handle, sometimes._

"Alice?" a familiar voice called out.

Alice blinked; bringing herself out of her reverie as she quickly recognized the voice. Feeling her eyes dart to the source, Alice straightened her posture as her eyes met a pair familiar ones.

"Gray," Alice breathed, feeling a sense of relief rush through her. Her eyes glossed over with daze, Alice silently reprimanded herself for almost forgetting about her goal to make contact with the role holders she knew. However, seeing Gray standing before her, Alice felt as though her worries were unfounded.

_This is Wonderland, after all. Many strange occurrences happens here, I shouldn't be too surprised to find myself in another place._ As if further prove her point, Alice began to think of the changing between the Circus and the Prison whenever she visits Joker.

Hearing the shuffling of feet, Alice saw Gray walking towards her. Feeling her lips tug into a smile and, once again, her cheeks warming out of embarrassment for being lost in her thoughts, Alice continued to silently chastise herself for spacing out so much without being aware of her surroundings.

"Ah, Gray, what are you doing here?" asked Alice once the man was close enough for her to speak without having to raise her voice so he can hear her. "I thought you were taking Nightmare to the hospital."

"I did, and he should be resting there for the time being. I came out to town to buy some ingredients for a dish I'm going to make when he returns home," explained Gray.

Seeing paper bags filled with what seemed to be herbs and other vegetation being carried in the man's arms, Alice smiled tightly towards him, feeling a bit sorry for the sickly incubus for whatever meal Gray plans to cook up for him.

"If it's a dish to make a beloved superior to feel better, I know one that works fairly well," said Mary Ann.

Alice turned to face the woman. She had been off in her own world, and the trio that kept her company seemed a bit distant to her with their talks of danger and logic that Alice didn't bother to try and comprehend with the little information they gave out, that Alice felt a bit distant from them, and as a result, she had nearly forgotten that they were there.

Looking at Bill, Alice remembered the information she had gotten from him. He was a role holder, no less the Lizard, but that was Gray's role too. Feeling a bit confused, Alice asked Bill if it was possible for two people to have the same role, which he looked thoughtful about.

Gray seemingly hadn't heard Alice's interesting question as he was talking to Mary Ann and the Dodo about the food for the sickly.

Noticing the stark change of daylight to twilight in a matter of seconds, Gray announced that he was going to return to the Tower to drop off the bags of food for Nightmare, and Alice decided to tag along with him. She was supposed to go to the Castle and visit Vivaldi like she promised a few time turns ago, but she hadn't a clue as to where she was and what direction the Castle was at.

As Alice walked along side Gray, who talked about the ideas he got from Mary Ann and the Dodo for new dishes, Alice silently hoped that he wouldn't give any to her. Once again, being immersed in her thoughts, this time of Gray's cooking; Alice was brought out when Gray suddenly stated that the people they were conversing with were not normal.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Alice, looking up at the man.

"They're role holders," Gray said, "but I don't think I've ever seen them before."

Alice knew that the man on the stretcher was a role holder, but she hadn't noticed that the other were also important figures. Looking back to see the distant figures of the small crowd and the burnt cottage, Alice became aware of how much they stood out against the other Wonderland resident surrounding them.

Despite being a good distance away from them, Alice recognized the strong, perhaps superior aura of a role holder being emitted through the people keeping her company during the events of the day.

_How peculiar. I hadn't even noticed._

.

.

**AN**:

I apologize if anyone was out of character. I hope you all enjoyed reading this, despite the lack of action.

Special _thank you!_ to Person P for being a great resource of encouragement and motivation for me.


End file.
